Komo 2026 Payment Industry Outlook: Underestimating Fizhe Financial Services (FISV.US) and PayPal (PYPL.US) are betting on Toast (TOST.US)'s growth potential

The Zhitong Finance App learned that looking ahead to the future of the payment industry in 2026, J.P. Morgan Chase downgraded the ratings of FISV.US (FISV.US) and PayPal (PYPL.US) from “increase in holdings” to “neutral,” believing that “it is too late to sell, too early to buy.”

The bank said in the research report: “We are happy to say goodbye to 2025 — payments stocks are recording their worst performance in 15 years other than the COVID-19 pandemic. “Slowing market growth has raised concerns about commercialization in the industry, and there is uncertainty about the return on investment in new products such as loans.”

Regarding Fisher Financial Services and PayPal, J.P. Morgan stated, “2026 will be a year where performance is needed to prove execution, as well as a year of increased investment in new initiatives and technology. As a result, there are many positive possibilities in the coming year, and there may also be quite a few situations that fall short of expectations.”

The research report further stated, “Based on this, we prefer to take a wait-and-see attitude. We expect to obtain more information in the first half of 2026 to better determine whether to rearrange these two stocks in the second half of the year.”

Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan upgraded Toast (TOST.US)'s rating from “neutral” to “overweight.”

The bank said, “Looking ahead to 2026, we will return to fundamentals and give priority to companies with pricing power, strong marginal profits and order growth rates.”

“We've been waiting for the right time to lay out Toast. Although the stock's share price has dropped 6% since 2025, profit expectations have been raised by 27%; in 2026, its 'growth+profit margin' composite index (Rule of 54%) has been established, and if 38% incremental profit margin is used, this indicator can reach 59%; in addition, if the credit card exchange fee regulation policy is implemented, the stock still has additional potential to rise. Based on the above factors, we have upgraded its rating,” the study added.